I had planned to take a few more days after the New Year—at least until the Lantern Festival—before looking for work. As for what job, I hadn’t really figured that out. Rationally, I wasn’t going to leave the computer industry. At some point the thought crossed my mind: why not go to Guandong Film and Television City and try being an extra?
Reality had other plans. On my second day back in Shenyang, Na asked me to go meet some vendors with her. I had nothing else going on, and I could help her get a better read on products. I did want to find a job quickly, but I was also dragging my feet. In the end I was pushed onto a new adventure, like a duck shoved up onto a perch.
Over the past half month we visited a lot of companies—grade-protection evaluation firms, security hardware companies. I rarely write much about technical products, so I won’t go into the services in detail. What stayed with me was the people.
After the last visit today, a question came up: how many of these companies do I actually remember? My answer: apart from the first and the last, mostly the enthusiastic ones. The companies that were indifferent to our visit, or clearly annoyed by it—even if I visited them yesterday—I couldn’t recall today.
Green was the first. Their office had a strong corporate-culture feel. The person who received us seemed doubtful about our capabilities and resources. That wasn’t strange; they might have suspected we were competitors fishing for information.
Longwu was the last, and the company was large. The person who met us was very enthusiastic and said that even without cooperation, we could still be friends. He was about my age, but tobacco, alcohol, and tea seemed to be constant companions. Na said he was much more mature than me. I actually thought he didn’t seem like most people born in the 1990s. (I didn’t dare say that out loud.)
Some companies were initially eager. Then they quickly tightened up and stopped sharing more information. But when we revealed who we really were, they became communicative again. In the end, it seemed they thought of something, and the message became: if you have a project, we’ll tell you more. I don’t think they owed us information. What interested me was the back-and-forth.
Some were condescending from the start. One person sat there swaying constantly. Almost all his replies to us were “mm” and “ah.” Unless we asked a question that required a detailed answer, he would not say much.
After meeting so many companies and so many different people, I understood a few things.
For one, I’m actually pretty inexperienced. At my previous company there were very few technical people, so I was built up. I knew there were things I hadn’t learned, but sometimes I did get a little full of myself. After meeting technical people at all these vendors, I realized I really am green. I’ll learn slowly.
Another thing: if our business overlaps in the future and I have to work with these vendors, who would I choose? (It’s not really my choice; I mean my preference.) Probably the more proactive ones, or the ones with better interests. The arrogant and suspicious ones would be hard to follow up with. Not out of revenge—I just think it would be hard to get things done. And then I turned it around: am I sometimes arrogant too?
Then there’s product awareness. The products I knew at my previous company could indeed solve most of that company’s problems. But when it came to physical servers, many problems couldn’t be solved. I’ve had very little contact with physical servers. Many things I assumed needed software could actually be handled by hardware. The impact was almost like someone who had used Windows for 20-plus years touching CentOS for the first time.
Finally, cooperation. Before I left my job, I tried to find people to cooperate with. That bastard was either cheating me or thinking about how to cheat me. The few collaborations that did happen almost turned into me doing charity.
This time was different. Na is really capable. She had the next few years planned out. In a way, I’m part of that plan. Three years ago, I would have felt like someone else’s pawn. This time, I felt that Na was genuinely decent.
We’re friends and partners. She was more concerned about my job search than I was. I don’t know how to repay that.
After Dilei died, Na made me regain some hope in the title of “Teacher Bi’s best friend.” (Green and Longwu are not the real company names. I don’t want to mention the real names for now.)